Today, Telegram users can easily buy and sell Bitcoin directly within the app. Many people are puzzled by this. But this is only a small part of the ambitious project conceived by the Durov brothers. The founder of Telegram and co-founder of VKontakte, Pavel Durov, wanted to create virtual money, but the decision of the American court on the lawsuit of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) put an end to this idea. Who is currently developing Telegram, how to use its wallet and not fall into the scammers trap - read about all this in our review.
Content:
- TON And Gram. What Is It And How Does It Work
- Easy Wallet Setup In Your Favorite Messenger
- Beware of Telegram Scammers!
- How to Recognize Fraud and Avoid Becoming a Victim of Cybercriminals
- Everything you Need to Know About Telegram Security Settings
- Conclusion
TON and Gram - What is It and How Does It Work
The TON blockchain was developed by the Durov brothers and the Telegram messenger team from 2018 to 2020. During this time, Telegram managed to hold a private ICO, during which $1.75 billion was raised. These funds were spent on the development of the decentralized computer network Telegram Open Network - TON. And already in 2019, users received the first version of the TON blockchain and a small part of the software interfaces for working with the messenger.
However, in May 2020, Pavel Durov's team announced a forced exit from the project. The reason for the reluctance to continue development was a court decision in favor of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused Telegram of unregistered issue of securities and providing investors with deliberately false information about the TON blockchain and its native token Gram.
As a result of the trial, the TON project as planned by the Telegram team was finally closed. Today, there is no single development team or organization that would control the development of TON. The blockchain is supported only by a decentralized community of enthusiasts, which rebranded the much-talked-about Gram token into the TON token.
However, the principles that were laid down by the Durov brothers in TON remained unchanged. For this reason, from 2020 to 2022, the project's tokens were distributed among users not through sales, but through mining. This was implemented in order to ensure the complete independence of the project, its decentralization and equal conditions for all participants.
At the same time, the TON blockchain and its token are becoming an integral part of the Telegram ecosystem.
There are rumors in the cryptocurrency market that Pavel Durov and his team are still behind the development of TON, and all the mentioned manipulations with the official refusal, rebranding and transfer of the project are nothing more than a disguise for the American regulator.
Be that as it may, TON is a decentralized blockchain of the new generation with low fees. These features have been appreciated by investors around the world, which has led to an increase in the capitalization of the token of the same name. At the time of writing, the market capitalization of Toncoin was $18.660 billion with eighth place in the world ranking of the most popular cryptocurrencies.
How TON Works
The TON blockchain is a “pie” consisting of three layers:
- Master Chain, designed to store general information about the network, its validators, active participants and hashes of the latest blocks.
- Workchains – stores data on the execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications.
- Shards – parallel blockchains for load balancing and overall performance improvement.
How transactions occur in TON
First, a user sends a transaction to a controlled part of the blockchain called a shard. It is then validated and added to a block. A transaction will be considered fully completed if it is included in at least 2/3 of the network shards.
Easy Wallet Setup in Your Favorite Messenger
To carry out cryptocurrency transactions in the Telegram messenger, there is a special bot - Crypto Bot, which allows you not only to buy and sell cryptocurrency, but also to store it, as in an electronic wallet. To use it, install the Telegram application, if you have not done so yet. Then find it in the messenger search by name: @cryptobot.
Note that Crypto Bot works equally well in both the smartphone and computer applications. Next, we should launch it by clicking the “Start” button.
From this moment you have become the happy owner of a crypto wallet on Telegram. Now we need to set up the bot for further work. Go to the “Settings” menu and select “Local currency”. Select the currency of your country (indicate the currency for which we will buy cryptocurrency).
After setting up all the parameters, you can top up your Telegram account. To do this, click the “Wallet” button.
We get to the section where you can see the current balance of accounts in cryptocurrencies supported by the Telegram wallet.
Next, click the “Deposit” button and select the cryptocurrency you want to deposit into your wallet. In our case, it is Tether - USDT(TRC20).
Next, we need to select a network (let it be the popular TRC20) and get an address to which we will transfer the cryptocurrency.
You can then check the current limits and fees.
From this point on, your wallet is fully configured and you can start working.
Beware of Telegram Scammers!
Recently, various forms of fraud have become more frequent in the Telegram messenger. Cybercriminals and scammers have gone so far as to pose as various financial organizations and even cryptocurrency exchanges without any embarrassment. One of the fraudulent methods is to pose as Binance exchange employees who can supposedly help participate in a fake coin giveaway. As you might guess, after a while it turns out that in order to participate in it, you need to pay a “commission” or “tax fee” via a special phishing link.
Very often, such “offers” for earnings come from users posing as investment consultants, which they, of course, are not. Also, these fake “white collars” like to use trademarks of famous brands as the logo of their Telegram channel. This makes it easier to deceive gullible users, make them believe them, and, ultimately, appropriate their funds.
Another popular way to fool inexperienced users of the World Wide Web is to create a fake group on Telegram, which supposedly includes a representative of the customer support service of this cryptocurrency exchange.
The methods of deception can be very different. For example, in the above-mentioned group, the fraudster advertised non-existent mining and asked his subscribers to pay him in Ethereums, for which he would then allegedly give them fake BNB tokens.
How to Recognize Fraud and Avoid Becoming a Victim of Cybercriminals
In order not to become a victim of another scam project held in Telegram, first of all, always carefully check the information about your contacts. Be sure to check all available data on the profile you are interested in in the Telegram messenger. Always pay attention to the username and do not trust the information in the "Biography" section. It is very easy to fake it, posing as a completely different person.
Also, be suspicious of any kind of “official” channels. A favorite trick of many scammers is to pose as an authoritative person, often very well known and very popular. Do not rush to conclusions, always check the veracity of the information and report suspicious users to Binance support.
In general, it should be noted that vigilance is your main weapon. Always carefully check the order and correctness of spelling of certain names. In this case, meticulousness and attention to detail are very important. For example, scammers replace registers (Binance to BiNANCE) or similar symbols I to L (BlNANCE instead of BINANCE). This is done on purpose so that an inattentive user does not notice the trick and continues to consider the fake account official.
Taking into account all of the above, the BINANCE exchange has developed a special tool, Binance Verify, with which it is easy to expose a fake channel in various social networks.
Everything You Need to Know About Telegram Security Settings
The basic security system of the Telegram messenger involves entering a one-time password from an SMS, which comes to the user's phone if the login is made from a new device. This is far from the most reliable protection, given that the password from the SMS can be intercepted by an intruder. However, there is a mechanism that allows you to set up authorization in two stages. It is called two-factor (two-step) authentication. After its activation, to access the account, you will need to enter not only the password from the SMS, but also the password from the account itself.
To activate this mode, go to the "Settings" menu. Then select "Privacy" and "Two-step authentication".
In addition to two-step authentication, be sure to set a password to log into your profile. By default, it is disabled. Entering this password will not take you much time, as it consists of only 4 digits. However, keep in mind that you should not use your date of birth, identical numbers, etc. as a password. Also keep in mind that the password code for logging into your Telegram account can be set separately for each device: PC and smartphone.
In addition to setting up passwords, be sure to take care of protecting private information in this messenger. If your number is hidden, cybercriminals will not know what number your account is registered to. It is worth setting up a special list of trusted users who will see your phone. This is a very important setting that will not only prevent the leakage of sensitive information, but also protect against dubious messages and calls.
Another security setting that you should pay close attention to is the search by phone number. After disabling this feature, only people from your contact list will be able to write to you.
Conclusion
The popularity of the Telegram messenger is growing every year. From a simple messenger, it has turned into a full-fledged trading platform where you can buy, sell, transfer and store cryptocurrency. In this review, we gave the necessary knowledge about what cryptocurrency on Telegram is, how it works, and who is behind its development.
However, despite all the tempting prospects, it is worth paying attention to the dark side of the Telegram messenger. The abundance of scammers who are attracted to the popular social network makes you especially careful about your own security. Be vigilant! Always check the information you receive, try to study any information as fully and in detail as possible before acting. We also recommend that you read useful articles about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies on our website. Having acquired knowledge, you will be able to safely conclude transactions and confidently use cryptocurrency on Telegram.
See also:
How to buy cryptocurrency for rubles or dollars
Is cryptocurrency necessary in the modern world?
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